Fire at recycling plant ‘could take days’ to make safe
A MASSIVE fire destroyed a recycling facility and it could be a number of days before the area is declared safe due to the nature of the material stored there.
Investigations are underway into the cause of the blaze at the NER recycling plant near Rathcoole in west Co Dublin. The fire broke out around midnight on Monday night.
More than 30 firefighters from Dublin Fire Brigade, with the assistance of Kildare Fire Brigade, fought the blaze. “At the height of the fire, there were four pumping appliances as well as specialist appliances including a foam tender and turntable ladder appliance, as well as emergency tenders,” said a spokesman for Dublin Fire Brigade.
“Yesterday morning we still had four engines, the turntable ladder, and two water tankers from both Dublin and Kildare at the scene and we were fighting the fire defensively, mainly by removing material from the blaze site, turning it over and quenching it.
“This could take days depending on conditions at the site.”
The cause of the blaze is not yet known and an inspection by fire officers will take place.
A fire brigade spokesman said most of the material at the plant was paper.
“It’s a f lammable material of course and these fires take time and resources to fight,” he explained.
A spokesperson for the company said they were still in the process of gathering information on the fire and could not comment on it at such an early stage.